(suspenseful music)
- Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back
to the McFly Files episode four.
Today is Q&A day on the vlog.
And we are gonna be asking a lot of questions
and getting a lot of answers.
I'm doing this because I frankly have not been here.
So we have to get a lot of content really fast.
I was ill last week, and I was out of the show
for quite a few shows, maybe like a few of them.
And just, we gotta get a lot of content.
So let's get it moving.
One of the most iconic writers/composers of all time.
I love your work so, so, so much.
You have done almost all of Zemeckis' films, you did...
- Last 24.
- You did "Gump." - Yeah.
- You did "Gump," the most iconic, amazing-
- Started with "Romancing the Stone"
- "Romancing the Stone" all the way
through "Back to the Future"
and you also wrote the score
for "Back to the Future; the Musical"
along with- - Yes.
- Glenn Ballard.
For my generation, the most iconic thing
we would know you from
is writing the theme for "The Avengers"
- Yeah.
- So I wanted to ask you what the difference is
between writing for a Broadway musical,
versus writing for Kevin Feige,
doing the Avengers themes.
- Well, you know, the interesting thing is,
it's not as much of a difference as you might think.
- Really?
- Yeah, because in the end, it's all about storytelling.
It's all about music assisting the telling of a story.
And from that point of view, it's identical.
The lovely thing about the theater
as opposed to the film world is,
you've gotta go, go, go to get the film ready,
and you record it, and then it's out there forever.
Whereas what you guys do, you create this show
every night. - Every night.
- And the musicians,
the magnificent musicians create it every night.
- Right.
- So there's this kind of interesting living...
- Right. - Aspect to theater
that doesn't exist in cinema. - Yeah.
- But the storytelling, identical.
- Yeah, wow, I love that, I love that.
- [Alan] Photo bombed.
- I heard there was another song for Biff.
- Yeah, there was- - That's what I heard.
I heard there's another song for Biff.
- There is actually-
- So I wanna know when we're gonna be
putting it in the show and-
- Well, it's in B Flat, I don't think that's in range-
(all laugh)
- All right folks,
we're at the iconic John's Pizzeria right now.
And actually, four years ago I was on a trip,
and I was coming to this place
with all my homies from Chandler High School.
And little did I know that months later
I would be cast in a Broadway show.
But it was such a huge, huge, huge moment for me.
And now, I'm getting to...
Last night I just got to perform for Chandler High School.
And now they are here at John's Pizzeria.
Chandler High School, what's up, y'all?
Come on, Chandler High, Chandler High!
That's my mom! - Hi!
- Chandler High, Yeah! - Hi!
- Claire, my sister, what you doing here?
You in high school now?
All right, folks.
Okay, so we're here, we're here.
We're doing "Footloose the Musical" this year.
Are y'all all excited?
So, so cool.
Okay, so what is all y'all's favorite thing
you've seen in New York so far on this trip?
- Oh my God, no, you!
- Oh, "Back To The Future" obviously.
- Right, "Back To The Future" Museum of Broadway.
- "Back To The Future" go see it.
- Listen, I didn't even tell 'em to say that.
Okay, so y'all asked some questions on Instagram.
This one's not for me
'cause I actually just started working in the Winter Garden.
But we have a special person who's been working here
pretty much exclusively, Merritt David Janes.
You've done so many things on this vlog,
including multiple TikTok dances.
But you've also done multiple shows here.
You did "School of Rock"
And I'm wondering, is there any secrets
of the Winter Garden that you've learned about?
- There's a couple secrets.
The first that comes to mind,
and I'll yell out the others when I know,
even if it's in the show tonight.
There's a rooftop area here where you can get out,
and check it out.
It's actually a good spot
to see the fireworks on New Year's, but-
- Dog, we have to go.
- We gotta go, we gotta go.
- We gotta talk to someone about getting there.
- Yes, we should talk to...
I think I know a guy.
- [Casey] Okay, well what's the second one?
- I don't have a second one.
I have to yell it out when I know.
- Oh, gosh.
Now there's so much suspense.
We gotta get on the rooftop,
and I gotta learn what the second one is.
- [Merritt] Yeah.
- Miss Liana Hunt! - Hello.
- It's your second show in the Winter Garden.
What was your first?
- "Mamma Mia!" - "Mamma Mia!"
So you were actually in the dressing room below,
which is me. - Yes, in your dressing room.
- And now you've got a- - Now I have this!
- [Casey] Really ugly, poor, poor, poor dressing room.
Anyways, we have a question for you, so.
"For Liana, what's your favorite costume
"you wear as Lorraine?
"Love you guys."
Oh! - I have to say this one.
I love this one, I love it, I love the purple gingham.
And I think I love it too
because it's just such an iconic dress from the film.
Like, this is the dress we all remember Lorraine in, right?
- [Casey] We have one more for you.
"Question for Liana Hunt.
"Has Liana ever met Leah Thompson?"
- Yes, I have. - Oh, yes, how did that go?
- Oh my gosh, our gala opening night.
We had been told that maybe some of
the original film stars would be there,
but we didn't know for sure.
And then after the performance,
they brought them out on stage.
And Leah Thompson was there!
And I spotted her, and died.
And she like scanned down the line of the cast,
and found me and was like, and came up and we hugged,
and we exchanged words and we got a photo together.
- [Casey] Wait, can I see the photo?
- Oh my god, yeah.
- Oh my gosh. - Yeah.
- [Casey] There are the two Lorraines.
- Can you believe it?
She was so cool, so grounded, so smart, I was in awe.
- All right, hopefully...
There's Merritt, he's sleeping man.
- Catwalk! - Oh, oh!
- It's a catwalk, Casey!
- That's the second thing?
- It's the second thing, it's a catwalk.
I told you I yelled at out when I knew.
- Yeah, thank you.
To explain, there's a catwalk?
- There's a catwalk.
- That we need to go up on.
- All right. - How?
- How? - How!
♪ For the dreamers, this one's for the dreamers like me ♪
- [Casey] We got Jonalyn and we got Tori.
Tori is on tonight, we'll get to her in a second.
But Jonalyn, you cover Lorraine Baines.
- I do.
- [Casey] And we have a question over here.
"For understudies and swings.
"What is your prep process
"when you're called on last minute?"
Go.
- The first thing I do when I'm called on last minute
is no matter where I am, I kind of just stop,
whether I'm walking or on the train, and I close my eyes,
and I just start thinking through the show
from the top to the end.
On the subway, as I'm going,
I just think
through every moment to try to remember everything.
- [Casey] That is a pro.
That is a pro right there, wow.
We have a moving train once again,
where you're hopping on the moving train.
We have Tori Byrd going on
for Mika Secada tonight for Jennifer.
And that's gonna be fun.
So same question for you.
"Swings, what is your prep process
"and when you're called on last minute?"
- So I definitely try to warm up vocally, if I'm at home.
I don't like to do it out in public,
like on the subway or anything like that.
But you know- - I do, maybe I'm a weirdo.
Do you do that?
- I warm up at home in the shower.
- Yeah, I actually lied about that.
- And then I definitely have to go over the cheer,
which I do because when I'm on for Mika,
I'm also doing my track,
but I'm cut from playing Betty so I have to fill in for her.
And there's a lot of specificity with that.
So that's kinda crazy.
- [Casey] And last week was kind of crazy 'cause-
- Last week was crazy 'cause we had four girls out.
We only have two female swings.
So I was cut from some numbers and added to other numbers.
So every show I did last week was a little different.
- [Casey] Emma Pittman, "How does your experience
in "Back to the Future" differ from "Chicago?"
- Oh, I would have to say the biggest difference for me
is that when we have little moments of like improv
in the show, I have to be careful to stray away
from a jazz hand. (all laugh)
- For Emma, Jesus, please focus.
"For Emma, what's your favorite thing about the track,
"your track in the show?"
- My favorite part in the track is at the end of act one,
I do like three quick changes in one number.
And my favorite change of all
is a character named Teacher Joyce.
You see her for approximately 40 seconds.
And she just slays and serves and teaches French.
That's my favorite part.
- [Casey] And this is a real teacher
that Bob Gale had, right?
- Yeah, one time he sent me an email.
There's another time that you see Teacher Joyce in act two.
She does a little cross, looks at the goons,
rolls her eyes and walks away.
And Bob Gale sent me an email and said,
"I just wanna let you know,
"like this might seem like a silly cross
"but that is a teacher that is based on a teacher that I had
"and you remind me so much of her, and do her such justice."
- Wow. - And so every night
I'm like, this one's for Bob.
♪ History ♪
Jelani, listen, I got a lot of rapid fire questions for you.
There's so many questions.
All right, Jelani, what's your favorite book?
- Of all time? - Yeah.
- Direct book. - Direct book?
- Direct Booking. (Casey laughs)
- Just direct, getting booked?
- Direct booked, yeah. - On any job?
"Jelani, how does it feel to be adapting
"these screen characters onto the stage?"
- It is kind of iconic.
It feels like a great responsibility.
'Cause this show is like a love letter to the fans.
To be able to bring these characters
that the fans hold so near and dear to their hearts to life
on the Broadway stage is kinda an honor.
- [Casey] That's sweet, that's so sweet.
"Jelani, do you prefer the cast of
"Back to the Future" or "Lion King" more?
(Jelani imitates bad phone reception)
What's that?
What is? - Poor connection.
- [Casey] Oh, poor connection. (laughs)
Hugh Coles, we got some rapid fire questions.
Here we go.
"What is Hugh Cole's least favorite American thing?"
- Well, I love America, and that's why I'm here.
But if there's something that I miss about the UK
is how polite everyone is in the UK.
In America, people are- - Facts.
"Hugh Coles, what is your favorite post-show snack?"
- My favorite post-show snack is eight bowls of cereal,
usually two, and then I'll have one more
and then I'll have one more, and then have one more.
But the key move is to get Special K
or Corn Flakes or Wheaties, which is the GOAT.
- [Casey] You're serious about this?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And then you buy like really nice granola, and then I put...
So basically, the Corn Flakes or Wheaties
is just a vehicle for granola, (laughs)
and you have eight bowls.
- [Casey] Wow.
"Hugh Coles, how hard was it
"to perfect the George McFly physicalities?"
- It's hard on the body, which is why I'm doing
what I'm doing right now.
But I literally, on the way to the audition,
I got out of the tube station,
and just sort of tried it on, and it was there.
I think it was already in me.
- [Casey] He did it out of the tube station!
"Do you find playing the show any different
"compared to the West End?
"If so, how?"
- It's only different...
Well, if you look upstage,
you could be at the Delphi Theater on the West End.
But when you hear the stage hands
talking in American accent, you know you're on Broadway.
That's the only difference.
- [Casey] Talking about their bacon, egg and cheese.
- [Hugh] Yeah, exactly, yeah.
- [Casey] "How long have you been British?
"And have you tried quitting?"
(Hugh laughs)
"Have you had a chance to meet Crispin Glover?"
- I've not, I've messaged him on every possible medium,
Twitter, X, Instagram, TikTok, his own private website.
He's never coming to the show.
But Crispin, if you're watching this,
please come to "Back to the Future"
Dear Crispin, I know you couldn't come to the UK,
but it'd be great if you could make it
to the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway.
I have traversed the seas so you can come and see our show.
Sincerely yours, Hugh.
- The Exorcist. (all laugh)
Hey Rog, I just wanted to ask you
what your favorite song to sing in the show was?
- [Roger] What my favorite song to sing in the show?
- Yeah, why do you...
- Get the- - No, no, no, Rog, Rog!
Kevin Curtis content.
Give us your best eight count, ready, five, six. (laughs)
(all laugh)
- Brendon Chan, thank you for joining me
on my therapy couch over here.
We have a question for you.
"For Brendon, how are you enjoying your Broadway debut?"
- This is the dream.
This is what I've wanted for so long,
since I moved to New York like seven years ago.
I was like, I would love to just work in New York.
And most of the work I've found has been outside,
either traveling, a tour, a regional thing.
And now I'm finally here, living the New York life.
- [Casey] So Hannah Kevitt, we had a question
about what college taught you
and didn't teach you about Broadway.
Go. - Okay.
So I feel like college taught me how to sing and dance
and act, and like that was a slay.
But I feel like I'm now in this new college,
where I'm like, okay, how do I do a turntable?
How do I be able to take notes and be on Broadway?
It's like a whole different level of things.
- [Casey] Great answer, great answer.
Hey Billy, Billy, what are you wearing?
I'm sorry, but somebody thought it was okay
to microwave cabbage upstairs.
- Oh, man, that hurts.
Welcome to Media Day.
This is where we shoot stuff for social media.
And we're in the costumes and the sets.
So this might be one of the only times you ever get content.
- But I'm not, you know gonna do the accent. (laughs)
- No, all right.
Hugh Coles, George McFly,
how do you keep the show alive for yourself?
- You make detailed fake reports on stage every night.
- [Casey] These are real reports you write every night?
- [Hugh] Every single night.
- [Casey] Did you write all this?
- Yes, and they're all fictional businesses in Hill Valley.
So you've got Tennessee Chicken, Eat At Rob's Deli,
Pasta and More, Cloth on Demand, Hill Valley Dental Care.
- Oh my God, Cloth on Demand.
I just drink real vodka.
- Cloth on Demand. - Cloth on Demand.
- And then I think Will must have been on for a show,
'cause it says American Kale,
which is probably like a Chopped,
or like a Just Salad kind of...
(all laugh)
- [Casey] We have Roger filming for social media.
- [Roger] Be an honor!
- Just big enough for me to get in there.
And yeah, there's even this...
There's so much they're trying to pack into this car
that there's even stuff under the seat
to make this all work.
We got this little thing that I speak to the car through.
It's a magnet right there.
And then, yeah, let me just show you me getting in,
and the skill of getting in.
This is a very specific skill of getting in to
the "Back To The Future, the Musical" DeLorean.
So you have to start with your feet in first.
Then you sit down, and then you slide 'em under the wheel.
And then you pull it down,
and hope that you don't get your head get crushed.
And that's the skill.
And then I go, and I make really sexy faces while I do it.
All right, folks.
So this is my view right before the show begins.
We have a nice little perch
for my skateboard that I grab off.
And then we open this door, and we're out.
There is the house, we made it.
And then we're in Doc's lab, here we are.
We actually have some props that change in and out,
depending on what time period we're in.
So 1955 is obviously when we're in 1955.
And there's different props for when we're in '85.
These clocks change.
And then it's down, I hook it right there.
Able to do the projector screen.
Got the Doc's little mind reading thing.
Yeah, this is Doc's lab, spend a lot of time in here.
And Roger and I do a lot of dumb improvy things.
Ladies and gentlemen, that is a wrap
on episode four of The McFly Files.
Thank you so much for this Q&A episode.
Thanks for the attention spans being there,
if you got through the whole thing.
Maybe we'll do it again.
I mean, if you like the questions,
and you like getting 'em answered.
Thank you for all y'all who asked the questions.
And come back next week because we still got a lot of plans.
So I'll see ya next week.
And until then, I'm outta time, bye y'all.
(suspenseful music)